OTHER LITERARY TECHNIQUES


There is a wide range of other literary techniques that poets have in their repertoire, such as repetition of key words or phrases, rhetorical questions (questions that are asked to make a point rather than to obtain an answer) and open endings (endings without a resolution). These can add to the effect of a poem or drive a key point or idea home.


REPETITION


Repeating a word or a phrase tends to make that word or phrase more powerful. Dickinson uses this simple device to great effect. For example:


 ‘And Mourners to and fro/ Kept treading – treading – ... A Service, like a Drum –/ Kept beating – beating –’ (‘I felt a Funeral, in my Brain’)


In this poem repetition is used to emphasise the relentless nature of the speaker’s turmoil. It seems as if the feet will not stop pounding and that the funeral service will never end.


 ‘The Stillness in the Room/ Was like the Stillness in the Air –/ Between the Heaves of Storm’ (‘I heard a Fly buzz – when I died’)


The stillness in a room where someone is soon to die is very distinctive. By repeating this word, Dickinson is inviting those who have experienced it to recall it and those who have not to imagine it.


 ‘And then the Windows failed – and then/ I could not see to see –’ (‘I heard a Fly buzz – when I died’)


The repetition of ‘see’ reminds us of the precious sense of sight. It also conveys the importance of the physical body as a house for the soul. You need to be alive to be able to see, and that is the point of this repetition.


RHETORICAL QUESTIONS


Dickinson asks questions that are both literal and rhetorical. They can be interpreted in a straightforward way, but they are also asked for effect and to draw the reader into the poem. For example:


 ‘Dower itself – for Bobadilo –/ Better – Could I bring?’ (‘I could bring You Jewels – had I a mind to’)


This is a very touching question, because the speaker is asking the person they love if they themselves are enough. It is not really a question that can be answered. We  guess that if the recipient of the poem really loves the speaker, they will be more than 


120 VERSE 2025


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